December 10, 2005

Teach the Class

After the â€śTeach the Classâ€? Presentation, what are you discovering about yourself in the group process (e.g., roles, communication process, social competencies, motivation level, strengths, weaknesses, attitudes, critiques of others, regrets) and, based on what you discovered, what will you do differently in future team projects?

I discovered quite a few things from paying attention to my role in the group during "teach the class assignment. I found myself to be shifting roles quite often. I came into the project thinking I have to be the leader as I always do. At first I did try taking the leader role but a greater enforcer with better knowledge ended up taking the role, which led me ease up a whole lot on the group. I am sometimes hard on a group if things aren't accomplished on time and don't fit the assignment. I was really glad someone took over the leadership role because in this project we had a lot of that. I really enjoyed just getting my portion of the project done and sending it to the leader who put it all together.
I have always felt that I had tough time with communicating with group members but what I noticed is that I was the one always trying to reach my group member to see where things are and get an update. I found that not too many people responded to my emails and requests. From this I learned that I am better communicator than I thought I was in comparison with my group members. It felt as if I was the leader again because of my constant need to make sure things are going to happen as we planned and hence this is the reason why I say that I found my self shifting roles often.
I think the most important thing I learned is that even when i am not the designated leader in the group, I keep the mentality of how I believe the group should be lead or expect the way i believe it should be lead. This is something I look forward to in the future to resolve and learn to accept the tasks of my role and try to let things that I am not responsible work itself out.